Mariam Magsi :
Imagining the Possibilities of a Hot Red Burqa
By Erin Haney
Mariam Magsi ’ s double-consciousness — mindful of where and to whom her work can and cannot be seen — is a strength . My conversation with the Toronto-based photographer in October , as she was preparing for a number of upcoming exhibitions , revealed her to be an agile and witty provocateur .
She marks the gambles artists often take — alienating their family and societies — by drawing out and gesturing to the secrets and ambiguities of those who are loved . She evokes a fascinating intellectual and creative milieu : her parents ’ artistic and independent professions , the risks taken by lovers in silenced LGBTQI communities in the Middle East , and the possibilities of a hot pink burqa .
Magsi was born and raised in Karachi , Pakistan , where the prevalence of the burqa and the versions worn by women and girls are
changing . Her recent and ongoing work on the burqa includes photographs and public performances that are meditations on the garment ’ s formal qualities and
I am confused , curious , fascinated , repelled , inspired , bemused and aggravated by the burqa … When I place my subjects into the frames in their burqas , it becomes a veil within a veil , a frame within a frame …
Mariam Magsi
metaphorical possibilities . With Magsi ’ s imagery , burqas reveal shades of the subversive bodies underneath . Her subjects are quietly outrageous , vivid and embracing , their genders and sexual identities undetermined .
Her portraits , hiding so much desire , confound us . They might elicit sympathy , consternation , anger — they are meant to provoke .
In North American and European circles , her photos spark public conversations on the freedom to dress , debates around modesty , and respect for individual versus societal religious expression ( over space , over time .) Magsi has ties to artists in Pakistan , Iran , and Saudi Arabia , where interest in her work highlights kindred explorations of gender , femininity and sexuality .
In these societies , supporters and artists know that such ideas are too provocative to be seen publically . For now , secret messages , stashed under a burqa cloth , might hold the place for futures yet to come .
Soldiers of Delusion © Mariam Magsi , 2015 . Courtesy of the artist .
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